1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical limiters and particularly to a passive optical limiter that protects optical components in a laser oscillator from optical damage as a result of amplified optical feedback.
2. Description of the Related Art
Amplified optical feedback can cause serious damage to optical components in laser systems. To avoid feedback, many high-power laser systems incorporate optical isolators. Optical isolators often consist of a pair of polarizers and a magneto-optic material that rotates the polarization of the light so that backward directed light can not return along the same path from which it came. The polarizers and the magneto-optic material are optimized for a single wavelength, and are generally not tunable over a large range of wavelengths. Optical isolators can be quite expensive, ranging from about $1,500 to more than $10,000.
Because of the inability of the optical isolators to operate over a wide range of wavelengths, they are generally not useful for broadly tunable lasers, such as Titanium:Sapphire, Optical Parametric Oscillator/Amplifier systems, Dye lasers, or any broadly tunable, amplified laser system.